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1960 World Series
The 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) and New York Yankees (AL) from October 5 to October 13, 1960. It is most notable for the Game 7, ninth-inning home run hit by Bill Mazeroski, winning the game for the Pirates 10–9, and also winning them their third Championship, their first since 1925, when they defeated the Washington Senators. This World Series featured seven past, present or future league Most Valuable Players. The Pirates had two (Dick Groat (1960) and Roberto Clemente (1966)), while the Yankees had five (Yogi Berra (1951, 1954, 1955), Mickey Mantle (1956, 1957, 1962), Roger Maris (1960, 1961), Elston Howard (1963), and Bobby Shantz (P) (1952)). As noted in the superstition called the "Ex-Cub Factor", this was the only Series after 1945 and until 2001 in which a team with three or more former members of the Chicago Cubs (Don Hoak, Smoky Burgess and Gene Baker) were able to win a World Series. Summary The Pirates were outmatched against the Yankees, who had won their tenth pennant in twelve years. Indeed, the Bronx Bombers outscored the Pirates 55–27 in this Series, outhit them 91–60, outbatted them .338 to .256, hit ten home runs to Pittsburgh's four (three of the latter's coming in Game 7), got two complete game shutouts from Whitey Ford—and lost. The Pirates' inconsistent pitching resulted in the peculiar combination of close games and routs. Law and Ford were both excellent for their teams. Pirates relief pitcher, Elroy Face was a major factor in several games. NL Pittsburgh Pirates (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (3) Matchups Game 1 Wednesday, October 5, 1960 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania As mentioned previously, in 1960 the Yankees had won their tenth pennant in twelve years; only the Cleveland Indians in 1954 and the Chicago White Sox in 1959 had managed to break New York's streak of consecutive AL championships. The Pirates, meanwhile, were appearing in their first World Series since 1927, when they fell in a four-game sweep to the dominant "Murderers' Row" Yankees. For Game 1, the Yankees threw Art Ditmar against the Pirates' Vern Law. In the top of the first inning, New York right fielder Roger Maris, the eventual 1960 AL MVP, drilled a solo home run off Law to give the Yankees a 1–0 lead. In the bottom half, however, the Pirates evened the score when Bill Virdon walked, stole second, advanced to third on an error by Yankee third baseman Clete Boyer, and scored on a double by Dick Groat (the eventual 1960 NL MVP). Bob Skinner then singled to drive in Groat and stole second himself, coming home on another single by Roberto Clemente. Pittsburgh now led by a 3–1 score, and this was enough to compel Casey Stengel, the Yankee manager, to pull Ditmar in favour of Jim Coates, who finally ended the inning. In the fourth, New York cut the lead to one run when Maris singled, moved to second on a Mickey Mantle walk, took third on a flyout by Yogi Berra, and scored on a single by Bill Skowron. But the Pirates extended their lead to 5–2 when Don Hoak walked and Bill Mazeroski homered, a portentous omen of events to come in the series. Pittsburgh added an insurance run in the sixth, and although the Yankees sliced the lead to two on a ninth-inning home run by Elston Howard, Pirate reliever Elroy Face successfully closed out the inning to give the Buccos a 6–4 victory and a 1–0 lead in the Series. Game 2 Thursday, October 6, 1960 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania While the Pirates surprisingly drew first blood with their victory in Game 1, in Game 2 (matching New York's Bob Turley against the Pirates' Bob Friend) the Yankees conclusively demonstrated why they had dominated the previous decade, mercilessly pummelling the Buccos 16–3. The game was scoreless until the top of the third, when the Yankees jumped out to a 2–0 lead. New York second baseman Bobby Richardson walked, was sacrificed over to second by Turley, and scored on a single by Tony Kubek. Gil McDougald then doubled, plating Kubek all the way from first base, and Turley aided his own cause in the fourth, driving home Richardson with a single. Although Hoak doubled home Gino Cimoli in the bottom of the fourth to break the shutout, the Yankees extended their lead to 5–1 courtesy a two-run home run by Mantle that scored Maris. In the sixth, the solid Yankee lead turned into a rout, as the Bronx Bombers erupted for seven runs and chased Pirates reliever Fred Green from the game. Richardson and Berra led the way with two RBI each, while McDougald, Skowron, and Howard accounted for the other runs. Mantle continued the onslaught by popping a three-run homer in the seventh and scoring on a wild pitch by Tom Cheney in the ninth. Although the Pirates tacked on two runs in the bottom half of the frame, the game was well out of reach for them by this time. The decisive Yankee victory tied the series at a game apiece. Game 3 Saturday, October 8, 1960 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York For Game 3, the series shifted to Yankee Stadium, and it was for this game that Stengel chose to send his ace, Whitey Ford, to the mound against Pittsburgh's Vinegar Bend Mizell. This proved to be a critical decision, as Ford's starting of the third game made him unavailable for the eventual deciding seventh game. There has never been any logical reason why Stengel did not tab Ford to start Game 1, as Ford's last starting assignment had been on September 28, a week before the first game of the World Series. Ford had also been used in two innings of relief on October 2, presumably just to keep his arm fresh as the Yankees had already clinched the pennant. For the third contest, the Yankees did not let up on their offensive pressure from the second game at all. They grabbed a 6–0 lead by the end of the first inning, as Skowron and Howard ripped RBI base hits while Richardson clubbed a grand slam. (During the regular season, Richardson had hit only one home run, off Baltimore's Arnie Portocarrero on April 30.) In the fourth, the Bombers added on four more runs, courtesy a two-run home run by Mantle and a two-run single by Richardson. The Pirates, meanwhile, simply could not get anything going against Ford, who tossed a masterful two-hitter. The Yankees now led the series, 2–1. Game 4 Sunday, October 9, 1960 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York The Buccos had seen their pitching fail them in the previous two games, as the team fell victim to the powerful Yankee bats. This was not the case in Game 4, however, as Pittsburgh sent Vern Law to the hill against Ralph Terry of the Yankees. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Skowron launched a solo home run off law to give New York a 1–0 advantage. The very next half-inning, though, Pittsburgh stormed back, as Law doubled in Cimoli and Virdon added a two-run single. Law kept the potent pinstripers at bay, though the Yankees did scratch and claw for a single run in the bottom of the seventh when Skowron doubled, moved to third on a single by McDougald, and scored on a fielder's choice by Richardson. However, after the Yankees scored that run, Pirate manager Danny Murtaugh brought in reliever Elroy Face, who held the fort for the final two innings as Pittsburgh tied the series at two games each. Game 5 Monday, October 10, 1960 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York With the series now tied at two apiece, Yankee manager Casey Stengel started pitcher Art Ditmar, his Game 1 starter, against the Pirates' Harvey Haddix, who had become famous for losing a perfect game in the thirteenth inning of a game against the Milwaukee Braves the previous year. As it turned out, on this day Ditmar could not get out of the second inning. Dick Stuart singled and was forced out at second by Gino Cimoli, who then moved to third on a double by Smoky Burgess. Don Hoak then slapped a ground ball toward Yankee shortstop Kubek, who flipped it to third baseman McDougald in an attempt to force Burgess. However, McDougald missed the catch for a fielding error, allowing Cimoli to score, Burgess to move up to third, and Hoak to end up at second. Mazeroski then lashed a double to left, scoring both Burgess and Hoak. After this small offensive outburst, Stengel yanked Ditmar and replaced him with Luis Arroyo, who finally got out of the inning. The next half-inning, New York picked up a run when Elston Howard doubled, moved to third on a ground out by Richardson, and scored on another grounder by Kubek. However, the Pirates extended their lead to three runs in the third, when Roberto Clemente singled home Groat, who had led off with a double. In the bottom of the third, Roger Maris touched Haddix for a home run to deep right field. However, otherwise the Pittsburgh hurler was in fine form, holding the Yankees at bay until the seventh, when he was replaced by Face. In the ninth, the Pirates added an insurance run when Hoak singled in Joe Christopher, and Face shut down the pinstripers in the bottom half of the frame to give the Buccos a 5–2 victory and a 3–2 edge in the Series. Game 6 Wednesday, October 12, 1960 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania For the sixth contest in Pittsburgh, the Yankees threw Whitey Ford against the Pirates' Bob Friend. And as was the case the last time Ford had toed the rubber for the Yanks in Game 3, his teammates relentlessly mashed the ball en route to a resounding 12–0 victory. In the top of the second, the Yankees went to work. After a Yogi Berra walk and a Bill Skowron single, Elston Howard was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Howard broke his hand and was replaced by pinch-runner Eli Grba (a pitcher), meaning that each team used all 25 eligible players. (Howard missed the decisive 7th game.) Ford himself then notched the first RBI of the game, with a ground ball single to a counterpart Friend that scored Berra. The next inning, Mantle cracked a two-run single that scored Kubek and Maris. After a Berra single moved Maris to third, Danny Murtaugh removed the clearly ineffective Friend in favour of Tom Cheney. He, however, fared no better, as a Skowron sacrifice fly scored Mantle and a triple to deep left field by Richardson plated Berra and Johnny Blanchard, making the score 6–0 New York. The Yankees then began to run away with the game, scoring two runs in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Richardson ripped his second RBI triple of the contest, and Ford added his second RBI courtesy a fielder's choice on a sacrifice bunt. On the mound, as in Game 2, Ford was his masterful self, not letting the Pirates mount anything resembling a rally for the full nine innings. His second shutout of the series was a critical one, as it tied the series at three games each. Game 7 Thursday, October 13, 1960 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The Pirates jumped to an early 4–1 lead in Game 7, only to give up four runs in the sixth inning. The Yankees then added two more, making the score 7–4 by the eighth. After Gino Cimoli and Bill Virdon both singled (with Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek being hit by Virdon's shot and having to leave the game), Dick Groat followed with another one which cut the New York lead to 7–5. Next up was Roberto Clemente, who followed suit(after Yankee pitcher Jim Coates was late in covering 1st base on the play), and the Yankee lead was again slashed, with the score now 7–6. The Pirates now had two runners on base and Hal W. Smith at the plate. Smith promptly hit one over the wall, and the Pirates took a 9–7 lead. Bob Friend, an eighteen-game-winner for the Pirates and their starter in Games 2 and 6, came on in the ninth to try to protect the lead. The Yankees Bobby Richardson and pinch-hitter Dale Long both greeted Friend with singles, and Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh was forced to bench the veteran pitcher in favor of Harvey Haddix. Although he forced Roger Maris to foul out, Haddix gave up a key single to Mickey Mantle that scored Richardson and moved Long to third. Yogi Berra followed, hitting a short grounder to first, with Rocky Nelson easily making the second out. In what, at the time, stood as a monumental play, Mantle, seeing he had no chance to beat a play at second, scurried back to first and avoided Nelson's tag (which would have been the third out) as Gil McDougald raced home to tie the score, 9–9. Ralph Terry, who had gotten the final out of the eighth inning, returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth. The first batter to face him was Bill Mazeroski. With a count of one ball and no strikes, the Pirates' second baseman smashed a historic long drive over the left wall, ending the contest and crowning the National League as champions. As the Pirates erupted, the Yankees stood across the field in disbelief. The underdog champions were outscored, outhit, and outplayed, but had managed to pull out a victory anyhow. Years later, Mickey Mantle was quoted as saying that losing the 1960 series was the biggest disappointment of his career. For Bill Mazeroski, it was the highlight. Mazeroski became the first player to hit a walk-off home run to win a World Series. Thirty-three years later, Joe Carter would become the only other player to end the World Series with a home run, doing so for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series, albeit in Game 6. Although most noted for the series-ending homer, Game 7 is also the only game in Series history with no strikeouts recorded by either side. Dick Stuart was on-deck as the game ended, as a prospective pinch-hitter for Harvey Haddix. Pirate relief pitcher Clem Labine became one of a handful of players and pitchers to play on World Championship teams 2 consecutive years with different teams. He was also a member of the 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers. Bobby Richardson of the Yankees was named World Series MVP of the Series, the only time that someone from the defeated team has been so honored. The New York champter of the BBWAA gave its version of the WS MVP, the Babe Ruth Award to Bill Mazeroski. Game 7 is widely regarded as one of baseball's most famous games. Composite box 1960 World Series (4–3): Pittsburgh Pirates (N.L.) over New York Yankees (A.L.) |}} Aftermath This would prove to be Casey Stengel's last World Series, as the Yankee club soon sent him into retirement. This led to his famous remark, "I'll never make the mistake of turning 70 again." Series quotes Notes References *Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 281–286) *Reichler, Joseph, ed. (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.), p. 2168. MacMillian Publishing. ISBN 0-02-579010-2. * External links * 1960 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com * [http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1960 1960 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)] * 1960 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com * Kodak Presents - Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Bill Mazeroski's Home Run * Audio: Bill Mazeroski's game- and Series-winning home run in Game 7 * "It Went All The Way!", Roy Terrell, Sports Illustrated, October 24, 1960 Category:World Series World Series Category:Pittsburgh Pirates Category:New York Yankees